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Land of the Giants: The Crash
"The Crash" is the first episode of season one of the television series Land of the Giants. This episode was directed by series creator Irwin Allen and written by Allen and Anthony Wilson. It first aired on the ABC network on Sunday, September 22nd, 1968. Synopsis .]] On June 12th, 1983, the passenger spacecraft ''The Spindrift makes a suborbital flight to London, England. Piloted by Captain Steve Burton and First officer Dan Erickson, the ship undergoes severe solar turbulence. Suddenly, a bizarre celestial anomaly appears before them and the ship is drawn into it. The Spindrift is pulled across the galaxy and they exit the anomaly in the orbit of an unknown alien world. Burton tries to radio London, but gets nothing but static. He informs the stewardess Betty Hamilton to keep the passengers calm while he angles the ship to a landing. When the ship lands, Burton and Erickson leave to check out the surrounding area. Betty sees to the comfort of the ship's four passengers, Mark Wilson, Valerie Scott, Alexander B. Fitzhugh, Barry Lockridge and his pet dog Chipper. Fitzhugh is exceedingly nervous and wants to get off the ship immediately. Hamilton offers to help him with his briefcase, but he angrily clutches at it, refusing to accept aid. Mark Wilson stands up and defiantly asks to speak with the captain. While Steve and Dan explore the foggy environment, they are nearly run down by an automobile many times their size. They race back to the ship while huge footsteps follow closely behind them. Steve tries to get the ship started, but a giant appears before them and picks up the Spindrift. Steve accelerates the engines and they manage to break free, but as they climb higher, they notice that the buildings that populate this world are more than five-thousand feet tall. They manage to get away, but the ship suffers from damage and they are forced to land in the middle of a dense jungle. Burton tries to keep the passengers calm, but Mark Wilson refuses to entertain any more delays and the two argue. Alexander grows fearful and sneaks away from the ship. He is startled to discover that the ship is now in the middle of a dense jungle. The young boy, Barry Lockridge, decides to follow him. Intrigued by the military vestments that Fitzhugh is wearing, he begins addressing him as "Commander". Fitzhugh tells him that "Devilish men" are after him and the secrets contained within his briefcase and he swears Barry to secrecy. He wanders off deeper into the jungle and Barry follows him. A giant lizard picks up their scent and suddenly becomes interested in the two walking meals. Betty tells Captain Burton that Alexander and Barry are missing. He decides to go looking for them and gives Dan instructions to set up a radar scan. Valerie wants to go with him, but he makes her stay in the cabin. Steve begins trekking through the jungle and he uses an old HAM radio to keep in contact with the ship. A giant tarantula emerges and Steve runs for his life. He gets away and the creature loses sight of him. Valerie disobeys orders and follows Steve out into the jungle. Elsewhere, Fitzhugh and Barry continue walking through the darkness. A giant cat appears from between two trees and begins growling at them. Alexander flails his briefcase about, hoping to ward the animal off, but the case opens, spilling money all about the area. He quickly closes it and Barry and he run back to the Spindrift. The cat follows them and begins batting the Spindrift around with its giant claws. After a few tense minutes, it loses interest and leaves. Meanwhile, Steve and Valerie come upon a large, open, square container. Steve tells her to stay out of it, but Valerie disobeys him a second time and enters the box. Steve trails after her, but as he does so, the cover of the box slams shut, trapping them. They look out a screened window and see a giant man in a lab coat approaching them. The man picks up the container, as well as two others, and walks off into the jungle. On the ship, Alexander recommends fixing the engines as soon as possible and taking off. Erickson, flustered, tells him that even when the ship is operational, they will not be leaving without the captain and Miss Scott. Alexander sneaks off into the pack where he removes a small handgun from his uniform coat. and Valerie try to escape.]] Meanwhile, the giant scientist takes Captain Burton and Valerie Scott back to his laboratory. He places the container on a table then goes into another room to consult with his female lab assistant. Burton picks up a broken branch from inside the container and slices open the screen. Valerie and he sneak out and manage to climb atop an adjacent lab table. Using a spool of thread, Burton begins rappelling down the side of the table. Valerie tries to follow him, but she knocks over a test tube alerting the two giants to their presence. The woman grabs Burton and places him inside a glass beaker. Valerie runs screaming, but the male scientist grabs her and places her inside the same beaker with Steve. At the Spindrift, the crew and passengers try to come up with ideas. Erickson wants to go and look for Steve and Valerie. Suddenly, Alexander pulls out his pistol and holds it at Dan and Mark. He demands the others to fix the ship so they can leave. Erickson however, calls his bluff by appealing to his sense of logic. He knows Alexander won't shoot him or else there would be no one left to fly the ship. Defeated, Alexander lowers his gun and sinks his head. Dan and Mark take off to look for the others. Barry tries to lift Alexander's spirits despite the fact that he has proven himself a weak and treacherous man. At the laboratory, the scientists have Scott and Valerie taped down to a glass slide. The male giant begins prodding at Valerie with the eraser-side of a pencil and she begins screaming in discomfort. From outside, Mark Wilson and Dan Erickson hear Valerie's shouts and find the laboratory. Using thread and a bent safety pin, they climb up the huge steps and gain access to the building. While they are inside the lab, they saw two scientist prodding both Burton and Valerie as they run under the desk. As they are under the desk where they're right under in front of both the male and female scientists, Dan devised a plan to Mark to create a distraction and told him that he'll climb up the desk by using his grappling hook. As they look up, they saw the giantess female scientist walks back to the chemical lab so Mark goes inside to take care of her while Dan starts climbing up. When Mark sees the female scientist donig some chemistry he gets into position under the desk, right in front of her two big feet and saw the hose filled up with gas running upwards. So Mark cuts a gas hose hanging down from one of the tables and lights a match. The brief explosion causes quite a stir and the two giants are distracted long enough for Dan to get to Steve and Valerie. Using a nearby scalpel, he cuts them free. smells trouble.]] The four of them escape from the laboratory, but the male giant chases after them with a butterfly net while the giantess female scientist stays inside the lab and recover from the blast. As they get closer to the ship, the giant manages to snag Dan in his net. Barry and Alexander see them coming and Alex holds up his gun, but is too scared and covers his eyes. Barry guides his aim and the weapon fires, striking the giant in the leg. The tiny bullet proves to be a minor irritation however. The group frees Dan and they all seek shelter inside a drainage tunnel. The giant tries to reach in for them, but they manage to evade his grasp. The tunnel leads to a refuse dump back in the jungle. Though they may have survived the giant's clutches, the group is not out of danger yet. A large dog comes upon the scene and begins barking at them. Valerie and Betty hide inside an egg carton while Alexander returns to the tunnel. Steve removes his tunic and sets it on fire using some leftover cleaning fluid as an accelerant. With his makeshift torch, he hurls it at the dog and drives it away. Exhausted, the group begin their trek back to the Spindrift. Alexander can no longer handle the strain and he begins to crack. Captain Burton grabs him by the shoulder to calm him and soberly tells him, "From now on, this is the way it's going to be in this world". Steve and Alexander follow the others back to the ship. Cast Principal Cast Guest Stars Notes & Trivia * Production code number: 2401 * Filmed at Stage 21, 20th Century Fox Studios at 10201 Pico Boulevard, Century City, Los Angeles, California. * At the time that it was first broadcast, "The Crash" was the most expensive pilot episode of a TV episode of all time. * The date provided at the beginning of the episode, June 12th, is also creator Irwin Allen's birthday. Whereas the events from this episode take place in the year 1983, Allen was born in the year 1916. * Pat Michenaud, who plays a young boy, is uncredited in this episode. * The pencil that the giant uses to prod Valerie Scott is a different prop from the one that is actually seen in his hand. The color of the eraser switches between shots. * Barry Lockridge's dog is identified as Chipper in this episode. * The passenger seats on the Spindrift were not secured to the floor as evidenced in this episode when Alexander falls to the floor, pulling the chair down with him. Allusions * Quotes * Production crew Produced by Jerry Briskin Directed by Irwin Allen' 'Written by''' Irwin Allen & Anthony Wilson Associate Producer - Jerry Briskin Story editor - Richard P. McDonagh Music - John Williams Music supervision - Lionel Newman Production supervisor - Jack Sonntag Production associate - Hal Herman Unit production manager - Ted Butcher Director of photography - Howard Schwartz, A.S.C. Post production supervisor - George E. Swink Art directors: Jack Martin Smith; Rodger E. Maus Set decoration: Walter M. Scott; Norman Rockett Assistant to the producer - Paul Zastupnevich Film editor - Jack Gleason, A.C.E. Special photographic effects - L.B. Abbott, A.S.C.; Art Cruickshank; Emil Kosa, Jr. Post production coordinator - Robert Mintz Production coordinator - Les Warner Supervising sound editor - Don Hall, Jr. Sound effects editor - Robert Cornett Color by DeLuxe Assistant director - Ray Taylor Supervising music editor - Leonard A. Engel Music editor - George Probert In charge of production - William Self }} See also External Links * * "The Crash" at TV.com Episode Guide * "The Crash" at TV Rage.com Episode Guide Category:1968/Episodes Category:September, 1968/Episodes Category:Full crew